Winnipeg’s Muslim community is looking for answers after one of its members, an 18-year-old woman, was stabbed on the job last month while working at the Olive Garden restaurant in Transcona.
Muslim leaders spoke at a press conference Tuesday morning to call for a “fulsome investigation” into the attack and whether it was targeted due to the Black, hijab-wearing victim’s identity.
The stabbing led to the arrest of a 27-year-old man with a lengthy rap sheet, including multiple arson charges, as well as convictions for mischief, theft and failing to comply with probation orders.
He was charged with aggravated assault, possessing a weapon and failing to comply with a probation order.
Aasiyah Khan, COO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, read a statement from the victim, who has asked to stay anonymous. In it, she challenged the police assertion that the stabbing appeared to be random and unprovoked, and said police went public with the charges without first speaking to the victim, who was then in hospital recovering.
The victim, in her statement, said she was the only person of colour in the restaurant at the time of the attack, and felt the accused was staring at her for a long period of time prior to the incident.
“I think the community has a number of concerns regarding the ways the investigation was completed,” Khan said.
“Thinking about a black Muslim woman being targeted in this manner, it certainly is concerning given that other prairie provinces have had similar incidences.
“We… still have important questions about the attack. Why did Winnipeg police reach a conclusion about motivation before getting a statement? Why was there a charge of aggravated assault in what was clearly an attempted murder case?”
Abdikheir Ahmed, a leader in Winnipeg’s Somali community, said innocent people like the victim need to be protected.
“Thankfully, the victim is alive. The perpetrator wanted us to be at the funeral, but thankfully we are here in solidarity with the victim who has come through this horrific incident,” Ahmed said.
“At the basic minimum, we need safety for young women like this victim. We need to protect them from this kind of hate-motivated attacks. We need justice for this victim. We need answers. My community needs answers, but answers require transparency and a fulsome investigation.”
Ahmed said he and other members of the city’s Muslim community have made great inroads as far as creating trusted relationships with Winnipeg police, but feels that law enforcement and government officials need to be held to higher standards in situations like this.
“We would like for law enforcement, the Winnipeg Police Service, to do a fulsome investigation that results in charges that are appropriate to the atrocious attack on this innocent victim.”
Winnipeg police chief Danny Smythe said charges laid against the accused were “appropriate.”
“In this case we just don’t have evidence that supports a hate-motivated crime,” he told Global News.
Representatives of all levels of government spoke at the press conference — including MPs Leah Gazan and Terry Duguid, Coun. Brian Mayes, and MLA Obby Khan, who is a member of the Manitoba Islamic Association mosque where the meeting took place.
All expressed solidarity with the Muslim community and the victim’s family, and called for an end to acts of hatred and racism.
In the aftermath of the Olive Garden incident, community advocates described the accused, Robert Ingram, as a man with ‘severe and complex’ mental health challenges who was let down by the system.